"Cat in the Rain" Analysis!
In his short story "Cat in the Rain" Ernest Hemingway masterly
depicts how a person can feel lonely being in relationship.
The plot of the story is rather simple. The story begins with the
description of a hotel in Italy where two Americans, a woman and her husband,
stay. It is heavy raining and while the husband reads the book, the American
wife observes a cat outside. She wants to get that cat, but it is gone. Later,
the woman is brought another cat.
There are two main characters in the story: the woman and her husband
George; a minor character – the hotel-keeper; and one episodic character – the
maid.
There is no direct description of the woman; the only thing the reader
knows exactly is that she has got short hair. The author describes her
indirectly. By the way she talks to the hotel-keeper we understand she is quite
polite. The American wife is unhappy, as she doesn’t have the life she wants, a
simple but happy life. At the same time she is helpless, she can’t change the
life herself; and, as her husband doesn’t want to change anything, she stuck in
her hotel room in Italy with the person who doesn’t understand her.
By the contrast with the woman, her husband has got a name – George. He
is a person who isn’t interested in anything but reading books. He doesn’t seem
to be interested in his wife and her desires. When the woman expresses her
wishes, her husband replies: "Oh,
shut up and get something to read," that means he is indifferent towards
his wife and he doesn’t even love her. The man may seem lazy, as he lies on the
bed all the time. The reader doesn’t have any sentiments towards George, he
doesn’t have any wishes, desires, thoughts; he likes everything and doesn’t
want to change his life and his wife’s life, and doesn’t even listen to his
poor wife.
By the contrast, the hotel-keeper
is the one who understands the American wife better that her husband. The
author describes the hotel-keeper indirectly, telling that the woman likes
about him: The wife liked him.
She liked the deadly serious way he received any complaints. She liked his
dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her. She liked the way he felt
about being a hotel-keeper. She liked his old, heavy face and big hands. The
hotel-keeper is attentive towards the American wife: when she goes out in the
rain, he sends the maid with an umbrella to help her; when the woman doesn’t
get the cat, he also sends the maid to bring her a cat.
The episodic character – the maid
is not described directly by the author. The reader knows she is an Italian
woman; she is polite and kind towards the American woman. She is like a bridge
that connects the woman and the hotel-keeper.
Reading the story superficially, the reader may think it’s a simple about
an American woman and wife, who spend their vacation in Italy; the husband
likes reading and the wife complains about everything. Actually, the story is full
of hints, given by the author, which tell the reader that there is something
hidden.
From the very beginning the author emphasizes the mood of the story by
using such words as "empty", "the motor cars were gone".
The author uses simple propositions in the first paragraph which tell about the
monotonous mood of the story : "There room was on the ...",
"There were big palms", "The rain dripped", "The sea
broke", "The motor cars...". To describe the hotel, the author
uses such sentences as: «They did not know any of the people
they passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room. Their room was
on the second floor facing the sea». The author emphasizes that American
family’s world is stuck within their room. They are not interested in anything.
It seems that the characters spend almost all their time in their room, not
only during the rain.
Almost all the story is based on the dialogue. At the beginning of the
dialogue the woman talks to her husband, who "Went on reading, lying
propped up with two pillows at the foot of the bed". The reader
understands that George doesn’t feel like doing anything except reading, he
even doesn’t want to stand up. Although the husband pretends to offer the help
to his wife, he doesn't seem to care about her: when the woman goes to take the
cat from the rain, the husband just replies: "Don't get wet".
At the same time, the hotel-keeper is more concerned about the woman and
sends the maid with an umbrella to help the American wife in rain. The author
opposes two men: the husband and the hotel-keeper. There is nothing said about
the way the woman treats her husband and there are lots of "She
liked" concerning the hotel-keeper. The author uses repetition to emphasize
the way the woman treats the hotel-keeper. «The wife liked him. She liked the deadly serious way he received any
complaints. She liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her.
She liked the way he felt about being a hotel-keeper. She liked his old, heavy
face and big hands». The woman likes almost everything
about the hotel-keeper, and to emphasize this, each sentence begins with “She liked”.
Unlike her husband, the padrone makes the woman "feel very
small and at the same time really important".
The woman goes on telling that she wants that cat. This cat is a symbol
of a home, of feeling protected. The woman wants to have her own home, that’s
why she goes to get that wet cat in the rain. Unfortunately, the woman doesn’t
get the cat, it is gone, like the life she wants passes by. The American wife
keeps on telling her husband that she wants to grow her hair, and she wants to
eat at a table with her own silver. So, by telling this, she tells the husband
that she is tired of living at the hotel, she wants to have her own house, she
wants to change the life. However, the author gives the reader a hint: «A man in a rubber cape was crossing the
empty square to the cafe». This man represents the life the woman desires, but
which she will never have.
When the woman tells George that she wants to grow her
hair, he tells that he likes the way she looks. Actually, he likes the life
they live and he doesn't want to change it. The woman keeps on repeating that
she wants a cat, which means she wants a new life, she wants her husband to
make their living better. The man doesn't listen to her anymore, keeping on
reading.
After a while, the woman
understands she is not going to have that life that she dreams about. "Anyway,
I want a cat," she said, "I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can't
have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat". She repeats “I want a cat”
as if she tries to hold the desired life in her hands. The American wife is
brought a cat, although it is not the thing she really wants.
The tragedy of this short story is that the woman wants to be listened,
loved and understood by her husband, who is blind and deaf towards her, and the
stranger understands her better than the husband. The woman feels lonely,
although she isn't alone.
